Riverfronts kill rivers https://www.civilsocietyonline.com/column/living-rivers/riverfronts-kill-rivers/ VENKATESH DUTTA RECENTLY, over 2,000 citizens participated in a unique protest along the banks of the Mula-Mutha river in Pune by hugging trees — just like the 1973 Chipko movement to save trees in the Garhwal Himalayas.

The riverfront development project in Pune aims to develop the 44-km stretch of all three rivers — 22 km of the Mula, 10 km of the Mutha, and 11 km of the Mula-Mutha -- at an estimated cost of `5,500 crore... It proposes to construct embankments along the river, which will cause significant harm to the riverine ecosystem. The embankments will not aid in flood control. In reality, this will decrease the river’s water-carrying capacity, making nearby areas more susceptible to flooding.  ..Many riverfront development projects have come up in India — the problem is that these projects lend cosmetic treatment to rivers with incomplete sewerage networks and inadequate sewage treatment. Riverfront developments have not prevented sewage from entering the river; in fact, they have escalated the city’s water and wastewater crises. Multiple sewer lines have been laid along or underneath the riverfronts. The result is that these river stretches have become ‘glorified sewer canals’.  The phrase ‘urban river’ is being used to disconnect a river from its upstream and downstream continuum. This urban-centric approach of river management is trying to give river space an elite look, with more build-landscape and concrete river banks along the urban stretches of a river

The Sabarmati riverfront development project attempted to execute interceptor sewers and sewage diversion networks, but these efforts have largely failed due to faulty design and malfunctioning sewage treatment plants. According to a report from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) presented to the Lok Sabha in February this year, the Sabarmati is the second most polluted river in the country. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure that sewage treatment plants are properly installed and functional to achieve the vision of a clean and unpolluted river in urban areas such as the Sabarmati and Gomti.